Ventilator for refrigerator-cars



(No Model.)

Patented May 11 wrom n. c.

Tu: [mams PETEnS CD, Puoux T UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

EDIVIN T. EARL, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

VENTILATOR FOR REFRlGERATOR-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 582,414, dated May 11, 1897.

Application filed September 18, 1896. Serial No. 606,226. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: l

Be it known that I, EDWIN T. EARL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of Oalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilators for Refrigerator-Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to cars for transporting perishable substances, and more paticularly to cars of the general class described and shown, for instance, in my reissued Letters Patent No.11,324, granted April 1S, 1893. Such cars are combined ventilator and refrigerator cars and are provided with one or more ice-tanks at each end, to which ice can be supplied through holes in the roof. These holes can be closed to insulate the car when the tanks are iced, making the car a refrigerator, or they can be left open,when the icetanks are either iced or empty, in order to allow air to enter at one end, pass through the car and its contents, and escape through the hole or holes at the other end, making the car a ventilated one.

In the reissued Letters Patent above mentioned I described and showed ice-holes in the roof of the car provided with heavy hinged lids or covers, and I also set forth means for utilizing such lids as parts of funnels or draftcollectors, and I provided foldable devices which were connected to the hinged lid for supporting' it at an angle to the roof. I also showed a folding screen hinged to the lid and adapted to cover the draft-inlet, so as to eX- clude cinders from the ice-hole. The supporting and screening devices were foldable inwardly under the lid, so as to be out of the way when the ice-hole was closed. The same construction was duplicated at the ice hole or holes at the other end of the car, so that in whatever direction the car might be moving I could provide a draft-collector open toward the front at one end and a draftexit open toward the rear at the other end.

The object of the present invention is to provide a more simple construction of the Ventilating device which can be more easily operated, because it does away with all foldable supporting and screening devices with their various and separate hinge-joints and means for fastening them in place when folded. For the same reason my present construction can be more cheaply made, which is an important consideration in view of the large number of cars upon which itis adapted to be used. IVith these advantages as to simplicity, ease of operation, and cheapness it is also a good and effective Ventilating device for these cars.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown practical embodiments of myinvention,which I have hereinafter described in detail.

Figure 1 is a view of my Ventilating device upon a car-roof and in operative position. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the ventilator thrown back to open the ice-hole. Fig. 3 is a view showing another shape or form of the Ventilating structure. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the same structure as it appears when the ice-hole is open.

The construction illustrated in these drawings is distinguished from that shown in former patents for this class of devices in that it does away with the ordinary ice-hole lids and with foldable supporting or screening devices used in connection with such lids and substitutes a simple rigid box-like structure, hinged to the roof of the car above the icehole, open at the front, but provided with a permanent screen to cover such open front. Such a structure can be thrown back upon the roof while the tanks are being iced and can afterward be thrown forward to cover the ice-hole and to admit air for ventilation. By providing a simple flap or door capable of covering the screened end of the structure the car can be closed to the outside air when it is to be used as a refrigerator or, in other words, as an insulated car.

In the drawings, A represents a box-like structure of wood or metal composed of a top a and sides b, secured thereto, but having an open bottom and an open front. I have shown this structure as of triangular shape in side elevation in Figs. 1 and V2 and of rectangular shape in Figs. 3 and 4. Either shape can be used, but I prefer the triangular, since it is more conveniently hinged to the roof and offers a smaller obstruction or impediment toward the middle of the car. rlhis structure is hinged to the car-roof B at the rear edge of the ice-hole O and is of sufficient IOO size, when thrown forward, to cover the icehole completely, and thus to exclude air from it, excepting through the open front. The open front is provided with a permanentlyattached screen D to exclude einders from the ice-hole. There a triangular structure is employed, ordinaryr hinges E can be used; but with a rectangular structure I use a double or compound hinge F G, formed in 'two parts, so as to permit the rectangular structure to be thrown back upon the roof, as shown in Fig. 4.

When the car is to be used either as a refrigerator or as an insulated car to exclude external cold, the door II, hinged to the front of the ventilator structure, is closed over the screen and secured in any suitable manner, as by the staple h and hasp 7L. The air is thereby excluded from the car; but in such cases I prefer to use the separate ice-hole plug I, which is supported near the top of such hole below the ventilator and is independently removable. This plug is for convenience shown in Figs. 2 and 4. It is provided with a ring, as shown, by which it can be handled. This ring is frequently connected to a chain the end of which may be secured to the ice-tank or other suitable place, which prevents the plug from being lost and also permits it to be dropped down into the icetank or otherwise put safely out of the way when the car is used with the ventilator. Thus the plug can be easily found and handled when it is necessary to insulate the car.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A ventilator for refrigerator-cars consisting of a rigid box-like structure, having open bottom and open front, hinged to the car-roof at the edge of an ice-hole, and having a screen extending across the open front,

said box-like structure with its permanent sides and top together with the screen being thus adapted to be swung as one body into posit-ion over the ice-hole or back upon the roof of the car, substantially as described.v

2. A ventilator for refrigerator-cars, consisting of a rigid box-like structure, having an open bottom and an open front, hinged to the roof of the car at the edge of an ice-hole in said roof, andhaving a screen covering the open front, and a door for covering said screen, said box-like structure with its permanent top and sides and with the screen and screen-cover being thus adapted to be swung as one body into position over the ice-hole or back upon the roof of the car.

3. A ventilator for refrigerator-cars, consisting of a rigid box-like structure, having an open bottom and an open front, and hinged to the car-roof at the edge of an ice-hole in saidroof, said box-like structure comprising permanent sides and a top which move as one body when the box is swung on its hinge, substantially as described.

Il. `A ventilator for refrigerator-cars, consisting of a rigid box-like structure having an open bottom and an open screen front, hinged to the car-roof at the edge of an icchole in such roof, and having a door, adapted to be closed to cover the screen front, saidv rigid box-like structure with its permanent sides,top and screen and with-the screen-cover being adapted to be moved as one body over the ice-hole or back and away therefrom, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 28th day oi August, 1806.

EIYWIN T. EARL. Vitn esses:

E. R. W. Fnos'r, T. MCF. SIMPSON. 

